Luikart easily wins another term on Pasco school board

Allen Altman --
Pasco, Dade City, 5-25-12--Pasco County school board member Allen Altman addresses a town hall meeting at Centennial Middle School on Thursday. The school board has held a series of town hall meetings to seek public input on a projected $25.6 million budget shortfall of 2012-13. ANDY JONES/STAFF

LAND O’ LAKES — Steve Luikart easily won a second four-year term on the Pasco County School Board on Tuesday, defeating Marc Yacht in the race for the District 5 seat on the board.

Luikart took nearly three-fourths of the vote, according to unofficial election results.

He said he was pleased that the voters chose to give him another term, but also had praise for his opponent, wishing him “the best of luck” in future endeavors.

“Marc Yacht ran a tremendous race,” Luikart said. “He was a great guy to talk with and everything else. But he didn’t have the history in education. I felt I had the edge there.”

Luikart is a retired educator who worked in the school district for more than 30 years as teacher and assistant principal before winning his first term on the board in 2010.

Yacht, a retired physician and Pasco County Health Department director, said he understood from the beginning it would be tough running against an incumbent.

“Steve Luikart’s a fine gentleman and I congratulate him and wish him the best,” Yacht said.

He said he hopes some of the issues he discussed during the campaign, such as the need for more funding for public schools and concerns about the growth of charter schools, will be embraced by the school board.

“If we don’t pick up on those concerns, they won’t change and they will probably get worse,” Yacht said.

School board races are nonpartisan. Although candidates must live in the district they would represent, voters countywide were able to cast ballots in the race.

Two other seats on the board were up for election this year, but incumbents Allen Altman and Cynthia Armstrong did not draw opposition and will keep their jobs another four years.